The present invention relates to a system for evaporating condensed moisture and, in particular, a condensate evaporation system for an air conditioner having moisture conveying means for improving the evaporative performance of the system.
A basic function of air conditioners, in addition to removing sensible heat, involves removing moisture from the conditioned air. The moisture from the air is condensed at the evaporator and then drained to the outdoor or condenser side of the unit. Considerable energy is expended to achieve this condensing, which is then partially recovered by evaporating the moisture on the condenser. Additionally, in high humidity environments where the moisture condensation rate is high, such evaporation systems avoid the additional expense associated with separate condensate drainage systems.
One of the more common prior art approaches for condensate evaporation is to provide a slinger ring on the condenser fan which directs air flow across the condenser. The slinger ring rotates through the condensate accumulated from the evaporator side and, depending on the water level therein, entrains moisture during rotation and centrifugally throws the moisture outwardly in a plane normal to the plane of rotation. However, inasmuch as the condenser lies in a plane parallel to the plane of rotation, only a small portion of the pumped condensate is effectively transferred to the condenser for reevaporation. As a result, the system is unable to keep up with the moisture volume when humidity is high and thus the system is either allowed to overflow in order to avoid fan motor stall or an oversized motor is provided in excess of that required to satisfy air flow needs. Other approaches have involved the use of various baffles and deflectors, the intent of which is to direct the condensate into the vortex of the condenser fan thereat. The relatively low pressure of the center of the vortex causes some of the water to percolate up to the airstream for redirection into air flow and onto the condenser for evaporation. However, in this system as in the slinger system, high humidities and water levels are not adequately handled.